Global Communications
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Global Communications Paper
This paper will begin with an overview of Global Communications present situation. This will be followed by Global Communications Leadership team’s plan for economic recovery. The author will then present a situation analysis that will include issues and opportunities identification and stakeholder’s perspectives. Then Global Communications end state goals will be presented, followed by a gap analysis definition and the conclusion.
Overview
Global Communications is a telecommunications company who along with many others are struggling to stay in business. Their stock price has dropped over 50% in the last three years. A major problem afflicting this industry is competition between local, long distance, and international markets; they are all fighting for the same market share. Another problem is the entrance of cable companies into the industry offering packages that include telecommunication options along with services for computers and televisions.
Global Communications senior leadership plan
The leader senior leadership team of Global Communications has developed a two part plan to grow the business. The following is their plan:
First, they plan to realize growth through the introduction of new services, primarily to its small business and consumer customers, who will now be served in both local and long-distance markets across the country. To compete with the local telephone and cable companies, Global has created alliances with a satellite provider to offer video services as well as a satellite version of broadband. Partnership with a wireless provider will allow the small business owner anytime Internet access using wireless telephone or PC cards. Even company information hosted in mainframes can be accessed remotely.
Second, the senior team has identified cost-cutting measures that will improve profitability. To maximize both of these initiatives, the company plans to market itself more aggressively on an international level with the goal of becoming a truly global resource. (Week Four, UOP eResource, 2007)
Situation Analysis
Issue and Opportunity Identification
The leading issue Global Communications is facing is too much competition, both domestic and international, and cable companies are now providing complete solutions for telecommunications, computer, and television. Another issue facing Global are profits diminishing and stock prices have fallen below half price in the last three years. An opportunity for these two issues is to merge with, acquire, and/or form an alliance and/or partnership with one or more companies to expand knowledge base and gain new customers, which should increase profitability and help build up the stock price.
Union leaders believe they made concessions in the last contract negotiation and now Global Communications is talking of outsourcing work to India and Ireland. The Union sees this situation as Win-Lose, Global winning and the Union losing. The Union is threatening to take action against Global Communications. If the leadership team decides that the only way to proceed and make a profit, is to outsource to Ireland or India they are going to have a tough time finding and opportunity that the Union will like.
Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas
The first stakeholder identified is the senior leadership team of Global Communications. Their focus is getting the new plan in place for the new strategy for the both long term and the short term to improve profitability. They believe they are focusing on the well-being of all stakeholders. The second stakeholder, the employees their concerns are their jobs and their future with Global Communications. Employee confidence in the company and the direction the company is headed is important to maintain employee loyalty.
The third stakeholder, Union Leaders / Union Employees – They feel they gave concessions in last contract to try to insure job security and company loyalty. The Union leaders feel like Global Communications is now trying to under cut them again by outsourcing work to India or Ireland. The Union is planning to fight outsourcing in court if necessary. The fourth stakeholder, the Board of Directors — They are responsible for overseeing and directing the Companies growth and direction. They have approved the senior leadership team’s plan to go forward to turn the company around in three years. The fifth stakeholder is the consumer — The consumer’s interest is limited to pricing, product, services, demand. Consumers want quality product at a reasonable price.
End-State Vision
The following are the end-state vision goals as agreed to by the Global Communication’s senior leadership team:
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Lower operating costs = improve profit
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Become a Global company = be competitive in world market within three years
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Introduce services to increase market share
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Use alliances (video and broadband)
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Partner with wireless provider
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Provide cutting edge solutions at right price
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Outsource non-critical activities offshore
Gap Analysis
The following is a simple definition of gap analysis that helped this author with a better understanding of gap analysis:
In business and economics, gap analysis is a business resource assessment tool enabling a company to compare its actual performance with its potential performance. This goal of the gap analysis is to identify the gap between the optimized allocation and integration of the inputs and the current level of allocation. This helps provide the company with insight into areas that have room for improvement. The gap analysis process involves determining, documenting and approving the variance between business requirements and current capabilities. Gap analysis naturally flows from benchmarking and other assessments. Once the general expectation of performance in the industry is understood, it is possible to compare that expectation with the level of performance at which the company currently functions. This comparison becomes the gap analysis. Such analysis can be performed at the strategic or operational level